A farewell to famous folk who passed away in 2010 Part 2 (July – Dec)
Childhood heroes, famous celebrities and politicians leave us every year and 2010 had its share of losses, shocking and otherwise.
Every year, the world loses some of its movers and shakers. Every year, people we have grown up with, heard on the radio, seen on TV or found on the Internet pass away.
View Part one, reviewing the first half of the year: here
Mohammed Daoud Odeh, passed away in a hospital in Syria at the age of 73. He was the mastermind of the hostage-taking at the Munich Olympics which killed 11 Israeli athletes in 1972.
July 11th, the New York Yankees and their fans mourned the loss of Bob Sheppard, play-by-play announcer for the Yankees for half a century — known to fans as the “voice of God.” He was 99.
Harvey Pekar, American comic book author best known for the autobiographical series “American Splendor”, was found dead in his Cleveland, Ohio home. He had been suffering from prostate cancer. His work had been adapted into a biopic film starring Paul Giamatti Read original post here
July 13 brought sad news as “The Boss”, George Steinbrenner, passed away at age 80 in Tampa. The owner of the New York Yankees since 1973, Steinbrenner was a major and sometimes controversial personality in professional baseball.
Alex Green, a legendary film stuntman who did everything from western movies to the Beachcombers on television, he died of liver cancer at his Vancouver home. He was 68.
Maury Chaykin, an American-born actor who spent his professional career in Toronto. Chaykin appeared in over 100 films as a supporting actor in a wide range of roles. He was described by Maclean’s magazine as the ‘master of the show-stopping cameo.’ He died in Toronto on his 61st birthday. He suffered from kidney problems but the exact cause of death was unknown.
Patricia Neal, an American actress best who won an Academy Award for her role in “Hud” in 1963. She is remembered as much for family tragedies — the illness and death of several children, her own strokes during the height of her career — as for her acting. She died at her home on Martha’s Vineyard. More here
It was August 9th when a small plane crashed in Alaska carrying former Senator Ted Stevens. The longest-serving Republican senator in American history, was defeated in 2008. He was 86. Full Story here
A well-known American jazz singer, songwriter, actress and civil rights activist, Abbey Lincoln, passed away on August 14. Her career spanned the 1950s to 2000s. Lincoln died in a New York nursing home. She was 80.
Dimitris Ioannidis, former leader of Greece during a military junta from 1967-1974. Ioannidis died of lung disease in hospital in Athens on August 16. He had been serving a life sentence for treason since 1975. He was 87.
Bobby Thomson, the New York Giants baseball player, he hit “the shot heard round the world” to win the 1951 National League pennant. He died at his Georgia home after years of declining health. More on Thomson’s passing
It was September 10th when Billie Mae Richards, the Canadian character actress who was the voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the classic 1964 television special died at her home in Burlington, Ont. She was 88.
Harold Gould, actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years starred in “Rhoda” and “The Golden Girls”, and movies such as “The Sting”. He died of prostate cancerin a California nursing home. He was 86.
Famous American singer, Eddie Fisher, whose crooner style made him popular in the 1950s and early 1960s. He is probably better known now for leaving wife Debbie Reynolds for actress Elizabeth Taylor, and for his later addiction problems. He died at his Berkeley, California home of complications from hip surgery. He was 82. More here.
September 26th, Gloria Stuart, actress from the 1930s and 1940s, died in her sleep. She was best known for playing Rose in the 1997 blockbuster “Titanic” at the age of 87. She was 100.
George Blanda, Hall of Fame football player, died on September 27, 2010. He played 26 seasons in the NFL, most renown with the Oakland Raiders.
Tony Curtis, an actor best known for hit films such as “Some like it Hot” and “Spartacus”. He’s also remembered by film buffs for his portrayal of a hustling publicist in “The Sweet Smell of Success”. He died of a heart attack at his Las Vegas area home. He was 85. More on the loss of Tony Curtis here
Standup comic Greg Giraldo died in a New Jersey hospital a few days after an accidental drug overdose at the age of 44. More on the death of Giraldo
October 16, Barbara Billingsley, best known for playing June Cleaver, the mom on “Leave it to Beaver” from 1957-1963. She died of a rheumatoid disease, polymyalgia, at her Santa Monica home at 94.
Three days later another television icon, Tom Bosley died of heart failure. He was best known for playing all-American dad Howard Cunningham on the television show “Happy Days”.
Founder of Penthouse magazine, Bob Guccione, died of cancer in a Texas hospital. He made a fortune in the adult entertainment industry before the rise of Internet pornography.
James MacArthur, the original Danno from the television program “Hawaii Five-O”. He played that character for 11 seasons but also worked in film and theater. Full report here
“Sparky” Anderson, the legendary baseball manager won World Series titles in both leagues with Cincinnati and Detroit. He died on November 4th at his home in California after years of suffering from dementia. He was 76.
Nicolo Rizzuto, the 86-year-old patriarch of Montreal’s best-known Mafia family was gunned down at his Ahuntsic neighbourhood mansion by unknown assailants. The assassination made headlines
Dino De Laurentiis, an Italian film producer responsible for over 500 movies in Italy and the United States, his hits include the first remake of King Kong and the Federico Fellini film La Strada. He died in Los Angeles. He was 91.
On November 19th, Pat Burns, a respected former NHL hockey coach with Montreal, Toronto, Boston and New Jersey, where he won the Stanley Cup. He died after a long battle with cancer, he was 58.
Leslie Nielsen, the actor famous for his role in “Airplane” and the “Naked Gun” series. He died of complications of pneumonia at hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was 84. Read here
Don Meredith, star quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960s, he went on to become a broadcaster on the new Monday Night Football program on ABC. He died of a brain hemorrhage in Santa Fe, N.M. He was 72.
On December 7 Elizabeth Edwards died after a long battle with cancer at age 61. The estranged wife of former Democratic presidential nominee John Edwards coped with her illness while her husband ran unsuccessfully for president and fathered a child with another woman.
Mark Madoff, the son of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff committed suicide at his New York apartment of the second anniversary of his father’s arrest. Madoff worked for his father but was never implicated in wrongdoing. He was 46.
Richard Holbrooke, awell-respected American diplomat, he brokered a Bosnian peace deal in 1995 and was working as a special U.S. envoy to Afghanistan when he died suddenly in Washington after surgery to repair his aorta. He was 69.
“Rapid Robert”, Bob Feller, died on December 15 from leukemia . The famous pitcher played for the Cleveland Indians.
Blake Edwards, movie writer and director best known for comedies like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “The Pink Panther”. He died in Santa Monica. He was 88. Read more about the loss of Edwards
Teena Marie, famous R&B singer, died at the age of 54. She had 13 studio albums with a career that started in the 70′s and spanned all the way into the 90′s. Two of her albums went platinum and she had 4 others that went Gold.
